Railway hopper car closure actuating mechanism

ABSTRACT

A hopper car having a continuous discharge opening and including a transversely sliding hopper discharge gate suspended on a hanger having rollers moving on support beams in transverse tubular type hoods to provide for smooth movement of the gate. An operating screw, the hanger member, and the support beams are positioned under cross ridge hoods which connect longitudinally extending side slope sheets to thereby provide a concealed operating mechanism and eliminate the need for intermediate transversely extending slope sheets.

United States Patent [191 McNally RAILWAY HOPPER CAR CLOSURE ACTUATINGMECHANISM [75] Inventor: George S. McNally, South Holland,

[73] Assignee: Pullman Incorporated, Chicago, Ill. [22] Filed: Oct. 18,1972 [21] App]. No.: 298,697

[52] US. Cl 105/250, 105/282 R, 105/307 [51] Int. Cl B6ld 7/02, B61d7/20, B6ld 7/26 [58] Field of Search 105/282 A, 282 P, 282 R,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 472,003 3/1892 Snyder et a1105/307 X 938.976 11/1909 Clark 2,094,979 10/1937 Dietrichson ..l05/282A1 June 28, 1974 2,250,524 7/1941 Dietrichson 105/282 A X PrimaryExaminer-Robert G. Sheridan Assistant Examinerl-Ioward Beltran Attorney,Agent, or Firm-Hilmond O. Vogel 5 7] ABSTRACT A hopper car having acontinuous discharge opening and including a transversely sliding hopperdischarge gate suspended on a hanger having rollers moving on supportbeams in transverse tubular type hoods to provide for smooth movement ofthe gate. An operating screw, the hanger member, and the support beamsare positioned under cross ridge hoods which connect longitudinallyextending side slope sheets to thereby provide a concealed operatingmechanism and eliminate the need for intermediate transversely extendingslope sheets.

10 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATEHTEBJWQ 1% sum 3 [IF 3 RAILWAY HOPPERCAR CLOSURE ACTUATING MECHANISM BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field ofthe Invention This invention relates to railway hopper car slidingdischarge gates.

2. Description of the Prior Art The prior art hopper dischargemechanisms employed on hopper gates are generally positioned under theintermediate transversely extending slope sheets of the hopper andthereby eliminate an area of the car which could contain additionalvolume for a hopper. The present invention provides a compact operatingmechanism for a large sliding gate which permits the entire bottomportion of a hopper to be available for rapid discharge of lading.

SUMMARY This invention relates to a hopper discharge door operatingmechanism and in particular to a mechanism employed to actuate slidingdischarge doors. The invention comprises a sliding door having a hangermember with rollers mounted thereon for suspending each door on a pairof transversely extending beam members. The hanger member also includesan acme or machine threaded portion into which a rotating acme ormachine threaded shaft is positioned to provide for sliding movement ofthe door upon rotation of the threaded shaft.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a sliding dooroperating arrangement which is compact and fits on a hopper devicewithout subtracting materially from the volume of the hopper.

Also it is an object of the present invention to provide a slidinghopper discharge door suspended on a track means which is supportedbetween slope sheets of the hopper device.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a slidinghopper discharge gate arrangement to a railway hopper car without theuse of intermediate transversely extending slope sheets which provide amounting area for the door operating mechanism.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a railway hoppercar having a continuous trough shaped hopper discharge opening havingonly end and side slope sheets for directing lading into the dischargeopening.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent fromreference to the following description, attached drawings and appendedclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of arailway hopper vehicle employing the sliding discharge gate operatingmechanism of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan cross sectional view taken generally along lines 22of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross section view taken generally along lines 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the intermediate and end gate mountingarrangement illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a modification of the gate mounting arrangement illustrated inFIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a view of a reinforced sliding door.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 discloses a typicalrailway hopper car 10 which employs the sliding discharge gate operatingmechanism of the present invention. The hopper car 10 includes the usualpair of spaced reinforced side wall units 12 joined by a roof and hatchcover unit 14 which extend between the end bulkheads 16. A pair ofintermediate bulkheads 18 having door support flanges 19 at their lowerportions form the intermediate walls of spaced hoppers which arecontained on the hopper car 10. Transversely extending end slope sheets20 extend downwardly away from the end bulkheads 16 to direct ladingtowards the hopper discharge openings. Each end slope sheet 20 includesa lower flange portion 21 which is used to mount and support the slidinggates 24.

Gate operating mechanisms are designated generally by the numeral 26 andare positioned transversely of the hopper vehicle and encased in ashroud tubular housing 28 which extends between the side slope sheets 30of each hopper. The housing 28 is of inverted U- shaped configurationopen at its lowermost portion. A pair of fabricated or rolled supportbeams 32 are also fixedly attached, generally welded, to the side slopesheets 30 to provide a rigid mounting and moving support member for thesliding gate 24. Each support beam 32 includes a runner portion 34 whichis contoured to provide a more efficient guide surface. Beams 32 areslightly spaced from the sliding gate 24 to permit unobstructedreciprocating movement of the gate 24 during opening and closing.

The shaft support and mounting plates 36 are positioned between thesupport beams 32 to provide a rigid mounting point for the thrust nut38. A hanger 40 is fixedly attached to the sliding gate by suitablefasteners or by a weld and includes a threaded portion 41 into which isfitted the threaded operating shaft 42. Guide rollers 44 are rotatablypositioned atop the hanger 40 and are guided in the runners 34 of thesupport 32 during transverse movement of the sliding gate 24. Theexposed end portion of the operating shaft 42 have a nut portion orcapstan 46 with a suitable cross section to receive a drive wrench toprovide for powered opening of the sliding gates 24. The end portion ofthe shaft 42 is also mounted in a thrust collar 48 which resists axialloads and yetpermits free rotation of the operating shaft 42. A supportand mounting bracket 50 extends downwardly and then inwardly to providea rigid support member for the exposed end portion of the shaft 42.

The mounting of the sliding door 24 will be made with reference to theillustrations in FIGS. 4, 5, and 6. As illustrated in FIG. 5 the doorsare sandwiched between a top retainer member 52 and a lower supportblock 54. The support block 54 may contain a fiber or other type ofinsert 56 to provide a low coefficient of friction between the slidingdoors 24 and their support blocks.

An alternate mounting arrangement is illustrated in FIG. 6 and providesa retainer 58 having a plurality of openings which contain ball orroller bearings 60 to thereby provide a rolling friction type of contactbetween the sliding gates 24 and their supporting members.

THE OPERATION As pointed out earlier, the discharge opening 22 is acontinuous trough shaped opening which exposes the entire bottom of thehopper area for rapid discharge of lading. The only interruption in thecomplete bottom discharge opening are the transversely extending shrouds28 which cover the operating mechanisms 26.

In operation of the sliding discharge gates 24 the capstan or nut 46 ofthe shaft is engaged by suitable manual or powered turning. Rotation ofthe capstan 46 in one direction causes the door or sliding gates 24 toopen and move outwardly towards the door operator. Reverse rotation ofshaft 42 closes the discharge gates 24.

To provide a smoothly opening and closing gate the present inventionprovides a pair of guide support rollers 44 which are positioned in thedish shaped runners 34 of the twin support beams 33.

The transversely extending side edges of the sliding gates 24 aresupported in horizontally extending flanges 19, 21 of the intermediatebulkheads l8 and the slope support sheets 20 respectively. To permiteasy sliding movement of these edge portions the support flanges l9 and21 may include the support block 54 illustrated in FIG. or the supportassembly illustrated in FIG. 6. FIG. 5 discloses support blocks 54fixedly secured to the support flange 19 and having a compatible insertcontained therein to provide a low coefficient of slide friction insliding gate 24. At present a fiber or other nonmetallic type of insertis contemplated.

FIG. 6 illustrates an alternate device for providing a smooth slidinggate 24 and includes a retainer 58 fixedly secured to the door supportflange 19 and spaced therefrom. The retainer 58 includes a plurality ofspaced openings through which are inserted the ball bearing members 60.

Thus it has been described how the sliding discharge gate arrangement ofthe present invention provides maximum utilization of the hopper carvolume for the transport of lading by providing a door operatingmechanism which is compact and'fits conveniently onto the railway hoppercar. By supporting the discharge gates in the'central portion by a pairof transversely extending beam members 32 the edges of the dischargegate are not the sole support members for the gate and do not receivethe sole force of the lading which rests above the discharge gates 24.Thus the sealing problem and binding which commonly result fromprohibitively high sliding friction forces caused by high normal forceson the door support edges in ordinary sliding discharge gates is notpresent since the bearing edges of the gate are not as heavily loaded asis generally present in the railway industry. By removing the normal orvertical load from the edges of the discharge gates and placing loadingon the support hanger 40 the sliding frictional force which resists thedoor opening effort of the rotating shaft is decreased significantly andenables the mechanism of the present invention to provide a highlyefficient and reliable sliding discharge gate.

The foregoing description and drawings merely explain and illustrate theinvention and the invention is not limited thereto, except insofar asthe appended claims are so limited, as those skilled in the art who havethe disclosure before them will be able to make modifications andvariations therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A railway hopper car having a plurality of hoppers for storage oflading and said car having intermediate bulkheads and end bulkheads, andlongitudinally extending said slope sheets converging to define agenerally continuous discharge opening for removing lading I from withinsaid hoppers and said discharge opening extending generally between endslope sheets and a plurality of sliding discharge door means positionedbeneath each hopper and having a door operating mechanism to provide forreciprocating opening and closing movement of the door means, and theimprovement comprising:

a tubular housing supported within each said hopper and extendinghorizontally between said side slope sheets;

said door operating mechanism being supported within said housing andincluding,

door support beam means extending transversely of said hopper car andpositioned within said housing;

a door hanger member fixedly attached to said door means substantiallycentrally thereof;

said door hanger member including roller support means mounted on saidsupport beam means to permit rolling opening and closing movement ofsaid discharge door means;

a rotatable operator means within said housing connected to said doorhanger member and being accessible and operative from without saidhousing for opening and closing movement of said discharge door means.

2. The invention according to claim 1, and:

said rotatable operator means being a rotatable threaded shaft;

said door hanger member including a threaded nut portion receiving saidthreaded shaft to thereby convert rotatable movement of said shaft intotransverse horizontal movement of said discharge door means.

3. The invention according to claim 1, and:

said door means having side edge portions extending transversely of thehopper car and being spaced from said centrally disposed door hangermember;

door support flanges positioned at the lower portion of the end slopesheets and at the lower portion of the intermediate bulkheads to providea vertical support surface force to the side edge portions of saiddischarge door means; and,

a low friction insert mounted adjacent said support flanges andengageable with the side edge portions of the hopper doors to provide alow friction contacting and support surface.

4. The invention according to claim 3, and:

said door support means including a support block having a fiber insertcontained therein.

5. The invention according to claim 3, and:

perforated retainer means mounted adjacent the door support flange andcontaining a plurality of ball bearing members contained therein andengageable with the sliding gates to thereby provide easily operateddischarge door means.

6. The invention according to claim 1, and:

a stiffener member fixedly attached to the under side of said dischargedoor means and including a main body or web portion and having attachedthereto a top flange reinforcing portion.

7. The invention according to claim 1, and:

said housing having end portions attached to said longitudinallyextending side slope sheets,

said housing having a lower elongated opening through which said hangermember projects.

8. A railway hopper car having a plurality of adjacent hoppers forstorage of lading during transport and having side bottom slope sheetsextending longitudinally of the car and end slope sheets for directinglading toward a generally continuous discharge opening, and slidingdischarge door means mounted for reciprocating movement across thedischarge opening, a door operating mechanism including:

a tubular housing supported within each hopper and extendinghorizontally between said side slope sheets, said housing having abottom elongated opening;

transversely positioned support beam means extending within said housingbetween the side bottom slope sheets;

a door hanger member projecting through said opening being fixedlyattached to the door means and mounted for operative movement on thesupport beam means;

guide rollers for mounting the hanger member on the support beam meansfor guided movement thereon;

rotatable shaft means operatively connected with the door hanger memberto thereby provide reciprocating movement of the gate means.

9. The invention according to claim 8, and:

said gate means having side edge portions extending transversely of thehopper car;

side edge portion support means attached to the hopper car and havinginserts to provide a low friction support surface for the edge portionsof the gate means.

10. The invention according to claim 8, and:

said support beam means comprising two support members having runnerguide rail portions for receiving said guide rollers and suspend thedoor hanger member between each of the two support members.

1. A railway hopper car having a plurality of hoppers for storage oflading and said car having intermediate bulkheads and end bulkheads, andlongitudinally extending said slope sheets converging to define agenerally continuous discharge opening for removing lading from withinsaid hoppers and said discharge opening extending generally between endslope sheets and a plurality of sliding discharge door means positionedbeneath each hopper and having a door operating mechanism to provide forreciprocating opening and closing movement of the door means, and theimprovement comprising: a tubular housing supported within each saidhopper and extending horizontally between said side slope sheets; saiddoor operating mechanism being supported within said housing andincluding, door support beam means extending transversely of said hoppercar And positioned within said housing; a door hanger member fixedlyattached to said door means substantially centrally thereof; said doorhanger member including roller support means mounted on said supportbeam means to permit rolling opening and closing movement of saiddischarge door means; a rotatable operator means within said housingconnected to said door hanger member and being accessible and operativefrom without said housing for opening and closing movement of saiddischarge door means.
 2. The invention according to claim 1, and: saidrotatable operator means being a rotatable threaded shaft; said doorhanger member including a threaded nut portion receiving said threadedshaft to thereby convert rotatable movement of said shaft intotransverse horizontal movement of said discharge door means.
 3. Theinvention according to claim 1, and: said door means having side edgeportions extending transversely of the hopper car and being spaced fromsaid centrally disposed door hanger member; door support flangespositioned at the lower portion of the end slope sheets and at the lowerportion of the intermediate bulkheads to provide a vertical supportsurface force to the side edge portions of said discharge door means;and, a low friction insert mounted adjacent said support flanges andengageable with the side edge portions of the hopper doors to provide alow friction contacting and support surface.
 4. The invention accordingto claim 3, and: said door support means including a support blockhaving a fiber insert contained therein.
 5. The invention according toclaim 3, and: perforated retainer means mounted adjacent the doorsupport flange and containing a plurality of ball bearing memberscontained therein and engageable with the sliding gates to therebyprovide easily operated discharge door means.
 6. The invention accordingto claim 1, and: a stiffener member fixedly attached to the under sideof said discharge door means and including a main body or web portionand having attached thereto a top flange reinforcing portion.
 7. Theinvention according to claim 1, and: said housing having end portionsattached to said longitudinally extending side slope sheets, saidhousing having a lower elongated opening through which said hangermember projects.
 8. A railway hopper car having a plurality of adjacenthoppers for storage of lading during transport and having side bottomslope sheets extending longitudinally of the car and end slope sheetsfor directing lading toward a generally continuous discharge opening,and sliding discharge door means mounted for reciprocating movementacross the discharge opening, a door operating mechanism including: atubular housing supported within each hopper and extending horizontallybetween said side slope sheets, said housing having a bottom elongatedopening; transversely positioned support beam means extending withinsaid housing between the side bottom slope sheets; a door hanger memberprojecting through said opening being fixedly attached to the door meansand mounted for operative movement on the support beam means; guiderollers for mounting the hanger member on the support beam means forguided movement thereon; rotatable shaft means operatively connectedwith the door hanger member to thereby provide reciprocating movement ofthe gate means.
 9. The invention according to claim 8, and: said gatemeans having side edge portions extending transversely of the hoppercar; side edge portion support means attached to the hopper car andhaving inserts to provide a low friction support surface for the edgeportions of the gate means.
 10. The invention according to claim 8, and:said support beam means comprising two support members having runnerguide rail portions for receiving said guide rollers and suspend thedoor hanger member between each of the two support members.